Transformers: Cybertron: A New Dawn
by Lost Animus
Summary: Random title. The first I could think of...Anyhow, Coby is trying to find a way to create something that will give the Autos an advantage over the Deceptis. However, this makes Bud worried. How far will he go for his brother? Budcentric.
1. The Problem

Disclaimer- I don't own Transformers-but, I want to. Also, I wouldn't mind seeing more Transformer Cybertron stories about Bud, Coby, and Lori. There are so few!

Oh, and also, please R&R. That lets me know that people actually enjoy this and want me to keep going, or vice versa. Have fun!

P.S. You'd be a fool not to notice that this one is Bud-centric story by time you finish reading this chapter…. 

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Chapter one-

Bud walked into the main control room on Optimus's ship. It was early morning, and although he was completely dressed, he was still yawning and trying to stay awake while walking. He sat down in a chair near a large screen that was on the wall, and put his head down on the desk in front of him. He looked to the side as Jolt walked up to him, oddly enough being more cheery than Bud was at that moment.

"Good morning Bud! Why are you up so early?" Bud stretched and yawned before looking at Jolt and rubbing his eyes.

"I woke up and couldn't sleep." It was easily known that if Jolt was smiling before, he was frowning now.

"You look like you are asleep right now. Are you lying?" Bud turned to Jolt, and rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Fine. I'll admit it. I woke up early because Coby is always working on his project by time I get up and I wanted to beat him at getting up so that I could talk to him. He is always working on that stupid project of his…" Bud murmured the last sentence, but Jolt caught on. Bud was looking away now, his eyes glaring at the wall. The minicon cleared his throat (Not that he has one, just imagine that he makes that noise…), concerned. Bud looked up, surprised, as if he forgot that Jolt was there, but avoided eye contact. He then got up and walked to the door. He then turned around to face Jolt.

"I guess that I'll meet him in his work place." He smiled, but it didn't seem to match his eyes for a second. Then he was gone, and Jolt sighed.

Coby had been working on a project for the Autobots to gain an advantage over the Decepticons, but he still needed one ingredient: Zalanite. ((A/N:  I made it up.)) The Autobots had had it once, but the Decepticons had taken it and destroyed the source. It was extremely valuable, and though the Decepticons didn't know why Optimus wanted it, they knew that they shouldn't have it for what they needed. And thus, Coby forced himself into his workroom day and night to try to find a way to make a substitute. The reason why Bud was down, however, was because Coby would never take breaks and Bud would worry. Bud could never talk to Coby, and the few times that he tried, he only irritated his brother. He had even made him mess up once, and he was almost yelled at. Jolt felt sorry for the kid, who had done nothing wrong, but there was nothing that he could do.

Meanwhile, Bud was walking to the workroom, (As shown in episode: Scourge) and slipped in. To his dismay, Coby was already there. Said person turned around, and raised an eyebrow. However, he did not seem happy to be interrupted.

"Bud? Why are you awake? It's a bit early, you know." His voice sounded like a commander in the army seeing someone of lower rank somewhere that they were forbidden to go into. Bud bit his lip, studied his older brother for a second, and then opened the door to head back out.

"I thought that you weren't here yet. My bad; I didn't mean to interrupt you. See you later." Bud made a quick wave, and then backed out of the door while Coby stared at it with a confused glance. He shrugged and turned back around, although he was a bit less focused; Bud wasn't smiling at all, and had sounded unhappy. That was extremely rare of him….

When Coby made his way to breakfast, which was a long table in which all of the members, Autobots and all, could sit at for meeting and such as well as for eating, he smiled and sat down in his chair while his cereal was already on the table. He raised an eyebrow at it, smiling, and looked up to see Lori sitting across the table.

"What's this?" He asked, and Lori smiled back, looking up from her toast.

"A celebration for taking a break." She said sarcastically, and Coby chuckled. He then looked to seats to his left, and frowned.

"Where's Bud?" Coby asked. Lori looked at the vacant seat.

"I guess he hasn't gotten up yet. I mean, he always sleeps in late." She shrugged, but Coby shook his head.

"No. He was up earlier, while I was working." Lori looked again at the empty seat while Jolt sat down next to her, and Reverb sat between Coby and Bud's seat..

"What is it?" Jolt asked, and Lori looked at him.

"Bud isn't here for breakfast, but he should be awake, right?" Jolt looked down, thinking.

"Hmm…I can't remember the last time I saw him….Wait, I think it was when he left to go to the workroom, Coby. Did he go?" He was looking now at Coby, who nodded.

"Yeah, but he left once he saw that I was there. I wonder where he is." Jolt shook his head.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he's fine. That or he's lost again." No one commented to that, since they highly doubted that. Bud had memorized the map a long time ago, since he loved the place.

Six Speed came and sat on the other side of Coby, and the Autobots started to fill in. A few minutes later, the large group was talking about things like the project and other things, Jolt, who had been oddly silent, finally made a point.

"Coby, Bud is still not here." Everyone heard him and turned to the still empty seat. Coby bit his lip, overly worried for the usually hungry and optimistic boy who was his brother.

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I'm done! sigh One chapter down, who knows how many left! If anyone does, please, feel free to tell me. Anyhow, I hope that it is a good story to read. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free (duh) to R&R. 


	2. What is he up to?

Where's Bud, you ask? Here's the answer. I hope this chapter turns out well…Enjoy!

Chapter two –

Bud sat with his arms around his legs, which were up to his chest. He sat in a small room, which seemed to be a closet, and he was simply staring into space, deep in thought. This small space, only accessible through unused vents throughout the ship, was his thinking spot. He had found it on the ship's map that he had memorized, and he had gone into it while exploring. On the map, it was shown as a glitch, so he was the only one to really know that it was there.

It was a small room, but one with enough room for Jolt to lie down and roll over a few times. It wasn't dusty, since the dust could never reach this area through the vents. It was completely bare, except for one small flashlight in the center of the room facing up so that Bud could see. He remained in the corner, though, and was biting his lip (A common habit for his family, apparently) and would shake his head once every few minutes, as to dismiss a bad or silly idea.

Finally he sighed, and moved to stretch. He started to express his thought aloud.

"I'm sure that Coby isn't angry at me, but still….He seemed angry enough. Maybe I should…nah….but I wonder when we can find Zalanite. Optimus has been running scans every so often, but they never came up with anything." Bud seemed to be counting the recent events off in his mind.

"They stopped yesterday, so I guess that they don't have it anymore, but…….." Suddenly, Bud bolted upright, frowning with a confused look.

"But….the Decepticons have to have it! I mean, we haven't seen any being dumped, and we've been following their course….I wonder…" Bud then slapped his forehead and smiled, as if he had missed the obvious.

"That makes so much sense!" Bud stood up, and then looked at his watch, his smiling expression turning into one of surprise.

"No! I've missed breakfast!"

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After breakfast, Coby had reluctantly gone back to work, but only because Lori and the Minicons promised that they would look for Bud until they found him. Their first stop was Bud's room, of course, but he wasn't there. The small group decided to split up and go through the hallways. The group agreed, and did just that.

Lori left the room last, however. She was looking at Bud's copy of the map, and tracing routes, wondering where he could've gone. She looked at the map copy beneath it, and shook her head as it showed nothing but a circle over the glitch. With that, she left.

As Reverb was going down hallways in his vehicle form, he spotted an open vent gate. He stopped and transformed, and inspected it. It was almost on the ground, and he shined a light through it. He then turned on the light to show thermal readings, and noted that no one was in wherever the vent led to. What disturbed him though was that despite the emptiness now, someone _had _been there recently. He got up, transformed, sent a message to Jolt, and continued, hoping for a lead onto Bud.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that he was going the wrong way.

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Oh, how wrong a Minicon could be……..

Bud was really in the kitchen, where he was making a snack. It was now in-between breakfast and lunch, and he hadn't eaten yet. Once finished with the making of the sandwich, Bud looked up and into a camera that guarded the kitchen, and waved to it. He doubted that anyone was watching it at the moment, and even if they were he didn't care that much. He was done thinking of his plan. Now, it was all for the action.

Bud walked, or rather snuck, into a large room. He looked around, and saw only Hot Shot in the room. He smiled, and walked casually into the room, and looked around. It was like a library in here, since it had all of the information of the ship in here, as well as many books on random planets, including earth.

Though Hot Shot wasn't one to normally be found in a place like this one, he was deeply engrossed in one certain book. There were more piled on the table in front of him. Bud walked to the table, and chuckled silently. Every book had a title of either 'Cars' or something similar. They were books that told the reader everything about certain types of cars. Hot Shot was reading about Mustangs.

Bud passed Hot Shot, and continued to look in large shelves for several minutes in silence, before he found what he was looking for. He took a large book from a low shelf, and turned it around.

_The Encyclopedia of a mineral's components_ was the title. (A/N: The title isn't very creative, I know. Have a problem with it? Sue me. :)) Bud sat down next to the shelf, and flipped to the back of the book in the manmade section, where he found Zalanite. He skimmed down the page until he found the following section:

_Ingredients: __Solinaite, Capiveir, & Tonsolar. _(I made those up as well.)

Bud smiled to himself and aloud. That had been exactly what he was looking for. He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, wrote the words down, and put it back into his pocket. He then closed the book, placed it back, and left the room.

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After a few hours of searching, from about 9:30 to 11:30, Lori walked to the workroom and sat down next to Coby, who was lying on the ground instead of working.

"Find him?"

"No. Not yet." Was Lori's answer, and Coby furrowed his brow.

"Where could he have gone?" Lori simply shrugged.

"Reverb almost found him a while ago, but….." She scratched the back of her neck, and Coby sighed, moving to sit up.

"I'd better get back to working then. I'm sure that Bud is fine. If anything, he's playing with you guys." Coby said mostly to himself, and Lori smiled.

"Knowing him, you're probably right. I'll go now." She stood up and left, lingering at the door for an extra moment to watch Coby get to work. Why would Bud just disappear like that?

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This chapter is finished! Finally! I'm working on my next one right now, so don't worry. The only thing getting in my way will be school, so I still have a few hours of peace in which to type in. 


	3. His secret plan

Thank you guys for reviewing! Here's the next chapter:

((I found a good song that could be played to match a fast-paced action amv. Just an idea…It is on my page. Well, it should be….))

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Chapter four –

Bud crawled through the vents, breathing quickly, before getting to an area that he could stand in. He sat down against the wall to try to get his breathing back to normal.

It was a good idea to bring Hot Shot with him, since it would raise the chance of actually succeeding, but for a second there, Bud was almost caught. Then, everyone would be angry with him, and he'd be in more trouble for trying to help. That always happened to him. He was lucky that he was near this vent, which was one of the five to eight that he always kept open.

Finally catching his breath, Bud stood up and walked towards the hangar bay. He already knew the route there, and could get there with his eyes closed. With that, it would be obvious how many times that he had actually snuck in there.

Once he got to the Hangar Bay, which wasn't far when you had the vents as shortcuts - poor Hot Shot -, he took a screwdriver out of his pack and unscrewed the vent. He peered out of the vent, and noticed that it was about ten or so feet off of the ground. He gulped, and jumped.

Surprisingly to him, he landed nicely and then ran to a small pod which could normally fit one Autobot and one Minicon. Bud smiled, and climbed in, turning the machine on in the process. He then waited a few minutes until he heard a large Hangar door open and close,and then smiled and moved into the far corner of the pod. Hot Shot opened the door to the pod, and looked around to find Bud.

"Bud, come on. Stop playing around." Hot Shot sighed, and spotted who he was looking for. Bud was looking away since Hot Shots last comment, and then turned back, not smiling. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"You think I'm playing?" Hot Shot opened his mouth to reply, and closed it again. Nothing came to his mind, and so he was officially 'speechless'. He had never seen Bud so serious.

Then Bud smiled, and waved to Hot Shot, ruining the moment.

"So, are you going to stand there showing anyone else in the Hangar your butt, or are you coming in here to get me?" Hot Shot then grimaced, and decided on the latter idea. He jumped into the pod and made a grab for Bud to meet empty air. He looked around, surprised, and heard the pod door close and lock. Bud had run under Hot Shot, and closed the door, locking it. Hot Shot groaned, and sat down onto the seat. After all, when he thought of the options, the idea wasn't half bad, and unsuspecting.

"I give up. Alright, sit in the seat in front of me." Bud smiled and buckled into the seat. Hot Shot followed suit, and took the controls.

As he started the pod up, Bud could hear murmurs of "Optimus is going to kill me" and "I can't believe that I'm actually doing this…" and such. He turned back.

"Don't worry Hot Shot; I'll take the blame. After all, I did corner you."

To this, Hot Shot banged his head on the steering device. That was just going to make it worse…..

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As the pod cleared the bay, Coby was laying awake in his room. He was greeted by a knock on his door.

"Come in." The door opened, and Lori came in, wearing pajamas. She had tried to get some sleep, unlike Coby.

"Can't sleep?" She asked, and Coby nodded.

"I can't stop thinking about Bud. I think that it's my fault he ran off…" He admitted, and Lori sighed.

"Coby, I highly doubt that. And even if it was, he would've been over it hours ago." Lori explained with her arms wide, her voice rising. Coby sighed; he knew that that was the truth, but he had no other reason as to why he hadn't seen him all day. At least everyone ran into Bud at least twice a day. Coby sat up in bed.

"Let's go check his room. He should be in bed by now." Lori nodded, and followed Coby out.

Coby knocked on Bud's door while Lori watched from behind him. After getting no response, he knocked harder. After still getting nothing, he looked to Lori. She nodded, and Coby opened the door.

The light was on in the room, and Bud's sheets were a mess. That showed that he had been doing something in bed, and had left in a hurry. Coby moaned slightly and banged his head lightly on the door several times before Lori stopped him.

"Let's find him before you get brain damage." She said carefully, and Coby nodded. He turned off the light, and the two of them left.

They were walking down the hall in silence a few minutes later, Lori now fully dressed. Lori kept looking at Coby.

"Where to now?" She asked quietly.

"The Main Computer room." Came the reply, and she nodded. The two continued to walk in silence before reaching the room, and then they entered. Lori looked around.

"No Autobots are on their shifts here." She noted, and looked at the giant screen, which was turned off. Her brow furrowed, and she patted Coby on the shoulder.

"Coby?"

"Yeah?" He looked to her, and met her gaze.

"The screen's turned off." He answered for her. The two looked at each other, and nodded. They went into the small cubicle with the main computer, and Coby logged on. He then leaned back as he noticed the program that Bud had forgotten to close.

"Lori, look. It's the map of Megatron's ship." Lori leaned in.

"Look, one of the rooms is flashing. It has…" She leaned in closer and squinted her eyes. "…Solinaite, Capiveir, & Tonsolar."

Coby looked at the words, a confused expression dancing along his face. He whispered the words, and then snapped his fingers.

"Of course! Those are the ingredients to Zalanite! We've been searching for the wrong thing!" He said as he figured out the same thing as the person here previously did.

Then it dawned on him. The Autobots hadn't said anything at dinner, meaning…..

Coby slapped his forehead.

"Ah no." Lori looked at him.

"What now?" Coby put his face into his hands.

"The Autobots didn't find this. That means that Bud did. And if he isn't here…." He trailed off as Lori understood what this meant. She looked at the map in a mixture of fear and surprise. She finished Coby's sentence.

"…..Then he's there."

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Needless to say, Optimus and Jetfire were interrupted by two shouting teenagers about their discovery. No, they were indeed NOT happy campers.

And then they tried to call Hot Shot down for a meeting with everyone else…

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A/N: Sorry guy, I would continue now if I could but I can't so I won't. Anyhow, in this chapter. It got too long without me noticing. Also, I tried at some humor in the end, so…yeah…Enjoy!

P.S. I really appreciate my reviewers! Thank you! I am pretty much dedicating these chapters to you!


	4. Oh noes!

Thank you guys for reviewing! Here's the next chapter:

((I found a good song that could be played to match a fast-paced action amv. Just an idea…It is on my page. Well, it should be….))

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Chapter four –

Bud crawled through the vents, breathing quickly, before getting to an area that he could stand in. He sat down against the wall to try to get his breathing back to normal.

It was a good idea to bring Hot Shot with him, since it would raise the chance of actually succeeding, but for a second there, Bud was almost caught. Then, everyone would be angry with him, and he'd be in more trouble for trying to help. That always happened to him. He was lucky that he was near this vent, which was one of the five to eight that he always kept open.

Finally catching his breath, Bud stood up and walked towards the hangar bay. He already knew the route there, and could get there with his eyes closed. With that, it would be obvious how many times that he had actually snuck in there.

Once he got to the Hangar Bay, which wasn't far when you had the vents as shortcuts - poor Hot Shot -, he took a screwdriver out of his pack and unscrewed it. He peered out of the vent, and noticed that it was about ten or so feet off of the ground. He gulped, and jumped.

Surprisingly to him, he landed nicely and then ran to a small pod which could normally fit one Autobot and one Minicon. Bud smiled, and climbed in, turning the machine on in the process. He then waited a few minutes until he heard a door open, and then smiled and moved into the far corner of the pod. Hot Shot opened the vehicle, and looked around to find Bud.

"Bud, come on. Stop playing around." Hot Shot sighed, and spotted who he was looking for. Bud was looking away since Hot Shots last comment, and then turned back, not smiling. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"You think I'm playing?" Hot Shot opened his mouth to reply, and closed it again. Nothing came to his mind, and so he was officially 'speechless'. He had never seen Bud so serious.

Then Bud smiled, and waved to Hot Shot.

"So, are you going to stand there showing anyone else in here your butt, or are you coming in here to get me?" Hot Shot then grimaced, and decided on the latter idea. He jumped into the pod and made a grab for Bud to meet empty air. He looked around, surprised, and heard the pod door close and lock. Bud had run under Hot Shot, and closed the door, locking it. Hot Shot groaned, and sat down onto the seat.

"I give up. Alright, sit in the seat in front of me." Bud smiled and buckled into the seat. Hot Shot followed suit, and took the controls.

As he started the pod up, Bud could hear murmurs of "Optimus is going to kill me" and "I can't believe that I'm actually doing this…" and such. He turned back.

"Don't worry Hot Shot; I'll take the blame. After all, I did corner you."

To this, Hot Shot banged his head on the steering device. That was just going to make it worse…..

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As the pod cleared the bay, Coby was laying awake in his room. He was greeted by a knock on his door.

"Come in." The door opened, and Lori came in, wearing pajamas. She had tried to get some sleep, unlike Coby.

"Can't sleep?" She asked, and Coby nodded.

"I can't stop thinking about Bud. I think that it's my fault he ran off…" He admitted, and Lori sighed.

"Coby, I highly doubt that. And even if it was, he would've been over it hours ago." Lori explained with her arms wide, her voice rising. Coby sighed; he knew that that was the truth, but he had no other reason as to why he hadn't seen him all day. At least everyone ran into Bud at least twice a day. Coby sat up in bed.

"Let's go check his room. He should be in bed by now." Lori nodded, and followed Coby out.

Coby knocked on Bud's door while Lori watched from behind him. After getting no response, he knocked harder. After still getting nothing, he looked to Lori. She nodded, and Coby opened the door.

The light was on in the room, and Bud's sheets were a mess. That showed that he had been doing something in bed, and had left in a hurry. Coby moaned slightly and banged his head lightly on the door several times before Lori stopped him.

"Let's find him before you get brain damage." She said carefully, and Coby nodded. He turned off the light, and the two of them left.

They were walking down the hall in silence a few minutes later, Lori now fully dressed. Lori kept looking at Coby.

"Where to now?" She asked quietly.

"The Main Computer room." Came the reply, and she nodded. The two continued to walk in silence before reaching the room, and then they entered. Lori looked around.

"No Autobots are on their shifts here." She noted, and looked at the giant screen, which was turned off. Her brow furrowed, and she patted Coby on the shoulder.

"Coby?"

"Yeah?" He looked to her, and met her gaze.

"The screen's turned off." He answered for her. The two looked at each other, and nodded. They went into the small cubicle with the main computer, and Coby logged on. He then leaned back as he noticed the program that Bud had forgotten to close.

"Lori, look. It's the map of Megatron's ship." Lori leaned in.

"Look, one of the rooms is flashing. It has…" She leaned in closer and squinted her eyes. "…Solinaite, Capiveir, & Tonsolar."

Coby looked at the words, a confused expression dancing along his face. He whispered the words, and then snapped his fingers.

"Of course! Those are the ingredients to Zalanite! We've been searching for the wrong thing!" He said as he figured out the same thing as the person here previously did.

Then it dawned on him. The Autobots hadn't said anything at dinner, meaning…..

Coby slapped his forehead.

"Ah no." Lori looked at him.

"What now?" Coby put his face into his hands.

"The Autobots didn't find this. That means that Bud did. And if he isn't here…." He trailed off as Lori understood what this meant. She looked at the map in a mixture of fear and surprise. She finished Coby's sentence.

"…..Then he's there."

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Needless to say, Optimus and Jetfire were interrupted by two shouting teenagers about their discovery. No, they were indeed NOT happy campers.

And then they tried to call Hot Shot down for a meeting with everyone else…

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A/N: Sorry guy, I would continue now if I could but I can't so I won't. Anyhow, in this chapter. It got too long without me noticing. Also, I tried at some humor in the end, so…yeah…Enjoy!

P.S. I really appreciate my reviewers! Thank you! I am pretty much dedicating these chapters to you!


	5. What now?

Sorry about the cutoff, but so far, I've updated two chapters in one day as a record! W00t!

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Chapter 5 –

Bud looked out of the main window, then back at the one behind Hot Shot, and gasped.

Optimus's ship looked small and far. Bud had never seen it in that perspective before. Hot Shot watched Bud and chuckled. Bud looked at him.

"What?"

"Nothing." Bud wasn't convinced by this, and narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean nothing?" He asked. Hot Shot was saved from answering this by looking ahead and shouting, "Look!"

Bud turned around. In front of the pod was a larger ship that was shaped differently than Optimus's, and bore a Decepticon symbol.

Bud gulped, and turned around. Hot Shot turned out the lights.

"Radio silence." He whispered, and the two quietly drifted into the Hangar of the enemy ship, which normally opened automatically when not in battle.

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Jetfire paced to and fro while Coby and Lori stood at Optimus's table, but across from him. Red Alert and the others were just now coming in, but Hot Shot was not among them. Optimus's face seemed to darken.

"Where is Hot Shot?" He asked in a quiet voice that sent shivers up everyone's spines. Everyone looked around and shrugged. Jolt even dared to do the most dangerous thing: ask.

"Where are Bud and Hot Shot?" He asked, then noticed Coby and Lori frantically showing the sign of no, where one pretends to cut their neck of. Their faces were white, and Jolt took note of that.

"N-never mind, sir." He said, now looking at the Autobot.

Everyone sat down somewhere, and a few minutes of silence passed. Finally, however, Vector Prime cleared his throat.

"Optimus? Why were we called here?" He asked, and Optimus sighed.

"Coby and Lori came up to me minutes ago and told me of this program that was running on the main computer. We never noticed it since the screen was turned off." He said this as he laid up a hologram of the program Bud was using. A few murmurs went through the small crowd, and then the silence came back.

"Since one of us would have mentioned it at dinner earlier, that means that whoever ran this program was a: not there, and b: didn't tell us for a reason. I'm sure that you can all guess the only person that that leaves us with."

Red Alert moaned.

"Bud." Optimus nodded, and then sighed again.

"Coby and Lori went to Bud's room earlier, and he wasn't there. And if he isn't here, then he's there." He then pointed to the map of Megatron's ship.

Several other people now looked on with the same face that Lori had earlier, when she found out about the same program.

"The last time I saw Hot Shot, it was about half an hour ago, when he went to check on Bud. If Bud was leaving then, then Hot Shot would have no choice as to follow, and bring him back here. So, now tell me why that obviously didn't happen." He looked to Coby, who was looking at the table.

"He ran through the vents, and Hot Shot knew where to meet him. How he got Hot Shot to drive, however, I don't know." Coby said, and Lori nodded.

Vector Prime looked to Optimus.

"Can't we go after them?"

"I'm afraid not. That would alert the Decepticons and make it worse." Came the reply.

Jetfire stood up, along with Coby.

"But Optimus, if we don't go..." Jetfire started, his voice rising. Coby finished it off with an angry but quiet reply.

"They could be injured, or worse." Silence enveloped the group, until Red Alert managed to say something and stood up.

"But Optimus, doesn't Megatron have guards stationed everyone onboard the ship? Those two don't know that." Everyone turned to look at him in realization of that fact, and Optimus dropped his head.

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"Oh wow…" Bud gasped as he looked around the Hangar with Hot Shot getting out of the pod behind him. He looked at the marveling boy and snorted.

"Don't give Megatron the pleasure." He said, and Bud turned towards him and frowned.

"As if. Let's go." He said, and then pulled the maps out of his pocket. He showed them to Hot Shot. He pointed to the room with the objective in it.

"I'll go there through the vents. You should stay in this area…" He circled another part of the map with his finger. "…so that you can counter any waking Decepticons." Bud looked up and nodded.

Hot Shot sighed, and looked towards the door leading to the rest of the ship.

"Fine; I'm in." Bud smiled and took his flashlight out.

Bud quietly walked down the hallway, and shined his flashlight around. He stopped suddenly, and Hot Shot, who had been following him, had to stop quickly to avoid falling on top of the young boy.

"I found it!" Bud whispered loudly, and took his screwdriver out. He unscrewed the bolts, and took the vent cover off. He stood and saluted to Hot Shot.

"This is my stop. I'll see you soon." He said, and smiled. He then climbed into the vent, and put the cover back on loosely. And with that, he was gone.

Hot Shot shifted from one leg to another. He started to think his only repeating thought aloud.

"…...Now what?"

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Bud crawled through the vents carefully, as to make no noise, but quickly nonetheless. He was soon able to walk in the vast vents.

"Thank goodness that the vents are so big for the size of the Decepticons and Autobots. It sure makes things easier." Bud whispered to himself, looking around. He walked to vents to see where he was, and then closed his eyes to think of the map that he had spend hours on memorizing.

He muttered to himself, his eyes still closed, and his finger moving to and fro, until he smiled, stopped talking, and opened his eyes. He started to walk again.

A few minutes later, Bud found himself peering through a vent, watching a door that resembled a huge safe door.

The reason why Bud was hesitating was because that there was something in the air that told him not to go, despite the desperate urges. Bud bit his lip impatiently. He was about to open the vent, his screwdriver in hand, when he heard a sudden clanging of metal boots.

He paused, his face white and heart beating in his ears, as a Decepticon's foot stepped in front of the vent. Bud refused to breath, staring as far up as possible to identify the cause of this.

"Hmm…." A deep yet familiar voice sounded out, and Bud almost yelled in his relief, but managed to only slump himself against the wall in attempt to regain his breath.

"I thought I heard something…." Scourge's deep voice sounded about, and Bud peered through the gate again. A few minutes silence passed before Scourge finally shrugged, and walked off.

Now breathing slightly quicker, and more cautious than ever before, Bud (now patiently) waited another few minutes before unscrewing the vent cover ever so painfully slow.

Finally, it was off, and Bud hesitated before running lightly to the lock on the other side of the hall, keeping the vent open in case another Decepticon came.

He put his hand on the lock, and smiled. It was heavy when he tried to move it, meaning that if it was silent enough, he would be able to hear its clicks.

He put his ear to the door, closed his eyes, and slowly moved the dial.

27…..

_Click._

18…..

_Click._

Bud held his breath to find the last one, but paused briefly when he heard distant metal clanks. He bit his lip, and hurriedly turned the dial.

30….49…..1…. The metal clanking was much closer now. Any moment would mark when the Decepticon would turn the corner.

4…..9…..

_Click._

_Clang._

Bud grinned, and pulled the door open. He went inside quickly, and shut the door.

Outside, Thundercracker walked around the corner. He looked around.

"I know I heard something this time." He said, and then turned to the ground, and groaned. He looked at the door, saw that it was locked, and walked to the next corner. He spoke into his radio.

"I'm in Sector F-8. I'm going to go tell Megatron that we have an intruder. A small one." Before he turned the corner, he took one last look at the open vent gate, and shook his head.

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Sorry about the wait!! Happy Halloween people! Oh, and I am working on the next chapter when I can, and I hope that It'll cover the next scene! Plus, there should be a mystery at the end of the next one as well….


	6. Trouble in the vents

Happy Belated Halloween!! Anyhow, sorry for the recent delay. I have had homework up to my neck-or my knees at least. You know how thin those papers are……..however, those Math books are a different story………

Chapter six –

Bud held his breath and waited for the Decepticon to pass. Once he did, he sighed deeply and let himself slid down the wall. He groaned.

His body was shaking slightly, and he was panting. After a few minutes of resting, he got up and looked around. He was in an almost pitch-black room with three large circular tanks. However, they all had small tubes coming from them.

Other than that, there was a small cabinet on one side of the wall, possibly fro documents.

Bud walked to it, and, after looking around nervously, opened it.

All of the drawers were empty.

But the drawers seemed to be made for a human, not a Decepticon.

Bud shook his head, and then moved to the large cylinders. He opened his pack and took out the three empty water bottles that he had. He put them down, and moved the pipes from the containers so that they all ended at the same place.

Bud then moved the water bottles under the area, and one by one filled them up with all three liquids at the same time. He shook the bottles once he was done, and examined the liquid. He smiled – this was definitely what he needed.

Bud bit his lip and looked towards the heavy door. Now, for the hard part…

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Hot Shot walked around the one particular hall that he had been left to about forty-five minutes ago. He reached the corner, sighed, and turned back around. However, when he looked up, he realized that he wasn't alone. He froze, and the Decepticon laughed quietly.

"What's the matter Hot Shot? You seem scares. I have an idea, though. I have a few questions for you, and if you don't answer them, I'll trigger the alarm. If you do answer them, and it doesn't matter, I might let you go." The Decepticon smiled, and Hot Shot did as well.

"Well, at least I'm stuck with a person who might let me go for the sake of his human 'friend'. Right, Scourge?" Hot Shot said, and Scourge frowned. ((A/N: I dunno why, but I think that Scourge is partially a good guy. He should ditch Megatron in my opinion.))

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Bud waited a few minutes with his ear against the metal door, and once making sure that no one was nearby, opened it. He then closed it, and ran to the vent.

He climbed in quickly and closed it when he heard the footsteps. Not bothering to stay to nail it down, Bud quickly climbed out of view. He was rounding the second corner when he heard Megatron's and Thundercracker's footsteps and voices.

Bud quickened his pace as he heard Megatron shout, and headed towards the vent leading towards the Hangar bay. He stopped, though, when he saw a visible type of gas entering the vents.

Doing the first thing that he could think of, Bud ran to the nearest vent, unscrewed it, and jumped out. He then looked around. He was on the bottom floor, and had still had about fifteen minutes until he got to the Hangar bay. Hearing more noises behind him, he ran to the nearest door and went into it. What he saw next, though, surprised him.

He didn't think that the Decepticons could have anything so… white.

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Scourge smirked.

"Ah. You are here with Bud for something the Decepticons stole?" He said, and Hot Shot nodded. He hadn't wanted to tell Scourge anything, but he needed to delay the alarm until Bud was safe. However, nearly all hope vanished when he looked over Scourge's shoulder and saw the smoke coming out of the vents.

"Oh no." He said, and Scourge looked at the vent gate.

"I'm guessing that Bud should've been in there?" Scourge said with the same tone as Hot Shot. Sure, he was a Decepticon, but he liked the humans as good friends. Scourge shifted his weight.

Hot Shot fumbled with his radio that Bud had the copy to for emergencies.

"Bud, come in. Bud? Bud?" Hot Shot called, but the only reply was static. He hadn't known that Bud had his off, since he was in no danger at the very moment, and had forgotten that he had it anyways.

"You hide, and I'll find him." Scourge suggested, but Hot Shot shook his head.

"No way. I'm going. I'll stay a hallway behind you, though." The two nodded and took off.

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Coby watched the moving map of the Decepticon ship uneasily. He was extremely worried about this brother. He decided that it had been hisfault that Bud had left a while ago, since he had the one not taking breaks, and ignoring Bud and making him worry. Lori came into the room for the tenth time, yawning.

"Coby, it's past eleven. Just get some rest and let us worry about Bud." Coby shook his head.

"If Bud can be up this late, so can I." He continued to watch the screens in hope of spotting one of the team members, but had yet to find them. He got even more worried, however, when the map showed signs of semi-lethal gas leaking into the vents.

That's when he called in Optimus and Lori and showed his extreme worried personality, which neither had seen before.

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Sorry for the long delay, peoples. Again, homework stinks. Anyhow, I'll be working on the next chapter whenever possible. Which I always do. Again, sorry for the delay, but hey, it's the weekend, and I hope that I'll have more time…..

Also, sorry for the short content. I put Coby in there to make sure that they weren't forgotten, however.


	7. Orb of Doom and the New Spy

Yay! It's drum roll CHAPTER 7!!!!!!!!11 For Flamingmarsh

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Chapter 7 –

Bud stood against the door. The room he was in wasn't huge, but wasn't small either. It was a little bigger than an average living room in a house. However, it was completely white.

The floor was white. The ceiling was white. The walls were white. It was also completely empty, except for one thing:

A small white pillar that rose up to Bud's chest was in the middle of the room. That was white too. (Duh.) However, it was what was on top of the pillar that made Bud gasp.

There were few, but correct, legends about this item. It was a sphere that held ultimate power, although very few actually held the rare gene to unlock those powers. The gene would appear out of no where, with no destination in mind. It would occur once around every 1200 years after the current gene died within its body.

There was also no way to trace it, and the being with it would never be able to know that they had it. Unless…they somehow managed to unlock the sphere's power.

The sphere itself was as large as a bowling ball. However, in the past, it had created universal wars. The last 'gene' had died off around 1300 yeas ago. It had belonged to an Autobot, and if the cycle was accurate in any way, the next gene would belong to either a human or a Decepticon.

It also had a certain color to it. It would change whenever a different race touched it, and such. For example, a Decepticon's touch would turn it into a light to a dark red. An Autobot's would turn it to a light to dark blue. A human's would turn it yellow, and so on for other creatures.

However, if Human's sided with another race, the colors mixed. For instance, if a Human sided with the Decepticons touched it; the color would turn Orange, the mixture of yellow and red. If a human, such as Lori, would touch it, it would turn Green, the mixture of blue and yellow. The lighter the color, the more innocent the toucher was. Therefore, few beings made the sphere turn white. Also, the gene's touch would make the sphere white.

The sphere's codename was either The Sphere (duh again) or The Masterkey (or something along those lines).

Now, back into the present, Bud walked up to this sphere, or OOP (Orb of Power). He slowly walked around it, watching the dark shade of red turn a bit lighter, then darker again. Biting his lip, Bud stopped with his back facing the door, and reached out to touch it. He then hesitated, and brought his hand back.

After fighting what seemed to be an internal battle, Bud finally placed his hand out again. He took it back, after second thought, and opened his duffel bag. He then made room for the Orb, and hesitantly pushed it in using his sleeve, careful not to touch it.

Time seemed to be moving incredibly slow in that room, and the noise outside sounded muffled. Bud could hear himself breathing, and his heart beating.

Something about that reminded him if the reason that he was here, and so Bud zipped up the bag and ran to the door. Opening it quickly, and without checking for enemies first, Bud ran out and down the next hall, headed to where Hot Shot was. A deafening sound was everywhere, making his ears ring.

The reason of his hurry was that he was afraid of what had happened to Hot Shot. They had been onboard for about an hour, and once Bud had left the soundproofed room, he heard the alarm ringing over head.

Bud kept turning corners that he knew soon ran to the Hangar, when he ran into a familiar face while turning a corner. His breath caught.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" A voice boomed, the smirk audible through the words. Starscream looked down at Bud, and said person's face whitened. Starscream bet down to grab Bud and prevent him from escaping.

When Starscream had moved, Bud snapped back to reality. He jumped out of the way just in time, and ran down the hall. Starscream let out an angered yell.

"Get back here little human!" He yelled, and ran after Bud. Bud continued to run around various corners, and heard Sonicboom's voice from around the corner. Smiling, he quickened his pace, making sure that Starscream was still chasing him.

Bud turned the corner and ran under the unsuspecting Decepticon. He continued to run past the next corner, but smiled and chuckled, despite the breathless running, when he heard a satisfying crashing noise. He then knew that his plan had worked, and made the mistake of looking back. He seemed to miss the hand that was coming up to meet him.

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Scourge and Hot Shot had been running down the halls when the alarm rand out. The two stopped, and Hot Shot groaned.

"Bud. At least he's alright." Scourge said, and the two started again.

Halfway to where they heard Sonicboom (they were following him) was, the two heard Starscream yell. They hid behind the corner, and then heard a crashing noise. Hot Shot stuck his hand out to use as a mirror to see around the corner when……

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Bud tried to stop running, but his shoes slid on the floor, and he ran into Hot Shot's outstretched arm near his chest. In reflex, Hot Shot, recoiled his arm, and saw who had run into him

"Bud!" He said, half surprised and half happy. That quickly turned to concern as he saw the boy leaning on his arm, breathing hard. Half of it was from the run, and the other half from the hit to his chest.

"Bud?" Hot Shot asked, and before he could question further, they could hear the two unfortunate Decepticons walking towards them.

Hot Shot and Scourge then took Bud and ran towards the Hangar. They outran the two Decepticons, but once they reached the doors to the Hangar bay, Scourge stopped.

"If I leave, they will probably know how to find me. You'll have to go without me. Just…" Scourge smiled as Hot Shot nodded.

"Yes?"

"Knock me out so that it seems that you ran by, and then I'll just continue here. Who knows – I might become a useful spy to you." Hot Shot smiled with him, and the two of them nodded. Hot Shot then aimed his cannons at Scourge on Stun mode and fired.

Hot Shot made it to the pod and placed Bud in before sitting down. He got the pod powered up, and then looked to Bud, who was now in the back seat.

"You alright?" Bud gave Hot Shot thumbs up.

"The arm thing just kind of made it harder to breath, but I'm fine." He panted, and Hot Shot nodded and lifted the shuttle up. No longer needing to be stealthy, Hot Shot blasted a hole into the Hangar door and left before the Decepticons could reach them.

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Coby was again alone in the Main Control Room, when he saw something that made him yell and call the others in. Yet again.

"YES!!!!" Lori and Optimus ran in.

"Coby, what is it?" he taller one asked. Coby turned around, and the two were relieved to see him happy.

"They made it! They're coming in right now!" He said, and the two looked in surprise. Lori looked at the map.

"Are you sure that it's them?" She asked, and then she turned around. She looked to Optimus, who had done the same.

"Optimus, where did Coby go?" She asked, and the two started towards the Hangar.

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I finished two in as many hours! Yes!!!!

See you folks tomorrow!


	8. Trouble

Yay! It's Chapter 8!!!!! I wonder what will happen……Oh, and sorry again for the long delay. I still blame the one or two pages of every subject I get daily, as well as my large case of writer's block or whatever…..

Chapter eight –

The ride back to the ship was incredibly silent. While both Bud and Hot Shot were afraid of what the others would do, Bud mainly didn't talk for the dull, throbbing pain that was still in his chest.

Not that Hot Shot could blame him. I mean, he would be in pain if he ran into a Decepticon's or Autobot's arm, and he was a lot stronger than a human like Bud.

As Hot Shot neared the Hangar Gate, he was horrified that the Gate was opening on its own. Not that he didn't expect that, but that meant that Optimus was expecting _them_.

Bud moaned once Hot Shot voiced this, and then sat up better and got ready to take off the seat belt.

"Are you sure that you are alright?" Hot Shot asked, concern noticeable in his voice. Bud only nodded, and looked out of his window.

"Just do me a favor, and don't tell anyone about that, alright?" Bud asked, smiling a bit, and Hot Shot nodded. Bud smiled bigger, but then jerked forward in surprise as Hot Shot landed the pod rather roughly.

"Oops." He heard Hot Shot as the pod door opened.

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Coby walked down the hallway, then rethought something and, with a scowl on his face, picked up his pace to a run.

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The two got out of the pod, a little shaky still on Bud's part, and sighed heavily in sequence. Hot Shot chuckled slightly for no reason, other than being somewhat happy about escaping.

However, he stopped immediately as the door to the Hangar opened, and Bud locked glances with him, his face showing something as close as horror could be to Bud.

Coby entered the Hangar, panting heavily, as if he had run the whole way. Which, pretty much, he had.

He walked over to Bud, ignoring Hot Shot and dismissing him with a wave of the hand, and stopped in front of the boy. Hot Shot stared at the two for a moment, noting the head different between their heights, and left sheepishly. Bud looked off to the side at the pod.

After what seemed like a while, but was only a few minutes, Coby spoke.

"You look awfully pale." He said in a disappointed sort of voice, and Bud flinched. He grinned a little and looked from the pod to his brother's face.

Bud stopped smiling as he saw the disappointment and anger in his brother's eyes, and looked down quickly, his face serious. Coby continued to stare down his brother, who seemed to find his shoes suddenly _very_ interesting.

Coby, apparently, had nothing else to say, and so, after a few minutes, he simply turned and left the Hangar without looking back.

Bud waited for the doors to close again, and then looked up, half of him expecting at least _someone_ to be there, and that half was disappointed. His other half, the less optimistic side, wasn't all that surprised.

Bud finally sighed, and simply sat in the pod's seat from the open door. He didn't know what to do for once. He then placed his arm on the duffel bag next to him, and his brain clicked.

Well, _duh._ What else would you do while holding a precious artifact?

Bud got up, opened the bag to look at it once, with its almost angry red that made him almost glare at the color, and zipped it back up. He left the pod and started towards the Hangar door.

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Coby walked down the halls in a manner that even Jolt had recognized as fury as Coby passed by without a glance.

Coby was indeed furious. What right did his brother have to do that? What right did he have to run off into an enemy ship, for goodness sakes, and steal something? He was lucky just to have a way out of there!

As he was fighting the internal battle with himself, he passed by Lori, who was waiting for an answer. As he passed by her station between the brother's rooms and entered his own, completely ignoring her, she looked after him with a confused look and continued in the way he came to find Bud.

She wasn't that angry, since she knew why he had done it, but was only worried. On her way towards the Hangar, she passed by the main control room to hear Hot Shot telling his case to Optimus, who was listening with a very annoyed look on his face.

"….Again Optimus, if I hadn't gone with him, he would have gone alone and I couldn't have let him do that! If I hadn't followed him, he would have been gone by time I got to any one of you! I mean, the radios were cut off anyways! What, did you think that I should have let him go alone?!" Hot Shot was saying, and Optimus sighed.

"You could have restrained him." He put simply, without even flinching at Hot Shot's reply.

"What?! You are saying that I should have tried to stop him, where I might have hurt him or knocked him unconscious, and where, even if it didn't, he would never trust me again? At least he wasn't hurt, and at least he won't be doing that again!" Optimus shook his head.

"How can you be sure of that?" He said calmly, and before Hot Shot could answer, Optimus continued. "Try telling Coby that."

After that, Lori noted, there was silence. She looked away from the door to notice that she hadn't been alone.

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Sorry for the long delay! I hate writer's block sooo much, but aren't you guys lucky that when I did think of an idea, I got up at 2: 20 am to do so!! I should update soon, but I am not sure…

Sorry that it's short, and sorry that I've changed a few things.

1) Coby is a bit angry now for the whole ordeal...[  
2) Optimus and Lori are in various places.  
3) Bud was carrying a large duffel bag.


	9. Aftershock?

Sorry for the wait…and the fact that it is 3 am in the morning that I am writing this – for you guys. …

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Chapter Nine –

"Bud?" Lori asked, already feeling upset by seeing him standing a few feet from her, leaning against the wall. He wasn't smiling, and it wasn't that he looked s, he looked…defeated, or tired, or something. Judging by his face, she couldn't tell _what_ he was thinking.

She continued to look at him. His eyes, which were normally shining with any emotion, happy, sad, or angry, now looked a simply blue. Not an ocean blue, or a sky blue or a rain blue. Just plain blue. It made her feel like her heart was being ripped apart; she had never seen him like this.

Bud sighed, jolting her from her thoughts. He made a _tsk_ noise. "They don't trust me, do they?" Lori knew this was a rhetorical question, and only stared at him sadly.

"Some of us still trust you. Like me, and Jolt, and Hot Shot for sure. There are others –" Her voice had been a whisper, but it grew to a higher level when Bud shook his head and interrupted her with a quiet and hurt voice.

"Yeah, but I lost Coby's and Optimus's." He put simply, then took the bag off of his shoulder and handed it to Lori. With a questioning gaze, she took it. She looked up to Bud with an eyebrow raised after opening and inspecting it. Bud smiled a little, and even that little change relaxed Lori.

"Ask Optimus what it is. Also, what Coby needs is in the side pockets." Bud explained and turned around. Lori looked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked, and then bit her lip. "I trust you, but I'm curious. And worried." Bud laughed lightly and smiled again, but it didn't completely reach his eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm going on a walk around the ship. You can reach me on the transmitter." He said, and she remembered the small transmitters that they had and kept. However, they could only work on the ship, and only when all of them were turned on. Coby normally kept his on silent, but still on.

Bud walked down the hallway and turned the corner, placing his hands in his pockets. He stopped and looked at Lori, and nodded and continued to walk.

Lori sighed, and walked through the door with a frown on her face. She noticed that everyone had stopped talking and had focused on her. She placed her hands up in defense, and looked at Optimus. She walked over to him and put the bag down, then started towards the door.

As she reached it, she turned around. "Bud wanted me to give you that, since he obviously heard you talking about him, and he didn't want to interrupt. He brought more than the needed supplies for Coby though, but I don't know what it is. Some sort of red ball or something. Oh, and congratulations." She said the last part with sarcasm and left the room.

She leaned on the door outside, sighed heavily, and then started to walk towards the rooms, deciding along the way that Coby needed someone to talk to.

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The whole control room was completely silent. No one knew how to react to Lori's intrusion. Silently, Hot Shot was kneeling and yelling in happiness of the intrusion and for Lori saving his hide. Optimus's thoughts were more scattered.

Optimus looked around the room. "Should we check it now or later?" He asked, and everyone seemed to hesitate. Hot Shot seemed to think quicker though.

"Now." He said, and Red Alert chuckled slightly at Hot Shot's eagerness. Optimus sighed, and leaned over to open the bag. He looked at the figure inside of it, placed a thoughtful expression on his face, which caused the others to lean in. Only Vector Prime recognized the item.

"By Cybertron." He murmured, and lifted the orb out of its bag, turning it blue to the touch. "How did he manage this without turning its colors?" Optimus shook his head.

"Maybe he didn't touch it. It was red, after all." **(1) **

The Autobot shook his head in disbelief while many of the others stared at them confusedly, still not grasping it.

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Bud sighed, relaxing as much as one could in the small seat in his special area/compartment. He then grimaced and massaged his chest with the palm with a hand. He groaned and leaned his head against the wall.

He had taken his beanie off, and was now staring at the ceiling. He sighed again and sat up abruptly. He was too restless; he couldn't simply relax…

He didn't know why, and leaned back again, this time with his arms behind his head. He started to think of what had happened in the past day, then realized how little sleep he had gotten. The adrenaline inside of him seemed to suddenly vanish, and he felt himself drifting off.

_So now relaxing works…_He thought sarcastically before falling asleep.

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Lori knocked on Coby's door, and then came in anyways. Coby was lying on his bed above the covers, staring at the ceiling. His hands were on his lap. He looked from the ceiling to Lori. He shook his head and sat up slowly, making room, for Lori to sit on his bed.

She did so, and they stayed like that for a while: Lori on the edge and looking down with his hands between her legs, and Coby sitting fully on his bed with his arms behind him, holding him up, his legs stretched out behind Lori, and him staring at the ceiling again. This continued on for many minutes, until Lori sighed. Again.

"Coby…" She started, but couldn't seem to continue.

"I went too hard, didn't I?" He asked, and Lori shook her head, and the two maintained their positions.

"I don't know. I think that part of it was what Optimus was saying…And the whole trust issue." Coby looked at Lori.

"Optimus? What was he saying?" Coby asked, and Lori sighed hesitantly, turned to look at Coby, and started to tell him what she had heard.

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There are certain colors for this orb, and I might have posted it, but I forgot. So, here's a recap:

Blue: Autobot, Green: Human working w/ Autobot, Yellow: Human; Neutral.

Red: Decepticon, Orange: Human working w/ Decepticons, White: Pure people or the 'special' person, Autobot, Decepticon or human with the once in a millennia gene.

Hope that you are happy. I got up at two am to write these two chapters, and am now going to bed at 3: 45 am...on a SUnday night...Yeah, I guess that your payback to me is very much - sorry for me saying this - a bitch.


	10. Attacked and a Minicon

Here's chapter 10, People!

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Chapter 10 -

Coby shook his head and looked tiredly at his watch.

"I still can't believe that I was that harsh…well, Lori, it's almost midnight. You should get to bed." Lori nodded, and left, pausing only at the door to say a quick, "Goodnight."

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Bud stirred awake, shaking his head almost violently when he realized where he was. His watch illuminated to show him the time.

Bud groaned. It was around 5 am in the morning. He got up, and then grabbed his hat.

He opened the grate, turned off the flashlight, and left the room.

Somewhat minutes later, he reached his sound-proofed room and slipped inside. After locking the door, he changed into his clothes for the next day, or which was today, and then fell back onto his bed. The alarm would wake him up when it was time to get up…

At 6:45 am, the alarm turned on, jerking Bud from his covers and making him almost fall out of bed to turn it off. Once he hit the snooze button, now standing in a white tank top and black pants in front of it, he sighed.

He could _feel_ the energy rush out of him. He shook his head. He didn't remember the alarm being this loud…

It hit him. He widened his eyes and sat down on the bed. Someone had been in his room. Normally, not even Coby could get in, since his door was kept locked, and the lock was a password. Only he knew the password. Also, Bud had locked the door…Bud blew a few strands of hair out of his face, and turned on the bed to view his lock. He froze.

The lock on his door was destroyed completely. The door around it was fine, but the lock itself had been twisted and pulled away from the door and was hanging slightly. Bud walked up to it, and reached out to touch it. The metal shocked him, and he hissed as he pulled his hand away, nursing it as he gazed at the lock.

He studied it, and made another discovery, which made him immediately look around his room in every corner. There was nothing. Bud looked back at the lock.

_It's broken from the inside…_He noted, and entered a password on the side to open the door so that he wouldn't have to risk touching the handle. To his surprise, it was denied, and Bud tried again. It was denied. A message popped up on the password screen.

**Nice try human.  
Don't think that you have gotten away with what you took.  
I'll be attacking soon.  
Just try to get out.**

Bud grimaced, and tried the handle. He was shocked again, harder this time, and the password screen changed to show a laughing cartoon Megatron. Bud gritted his teeth, and then grabbed the communicator from his desk, which was turned off.

Bud was sure that he hadn't turned it off, but tried to turn it on anyways. However, instead of the usual blue screen, it sent out a static-y noise that was turned to a certain frequency that, unknown to Bud, could be fatal to humans by it possibly damaging the body's main functions. It was like the certain frequency used for disabling robots, except that it was possible for humans too.

Bud dropped the communicator and placed his hands over his ears, biting his tongue to keep from yelling out in pain. He soon felt a coppery taste in his mouth as a result.

He moved around, blinded with pain, until he found a wall to lean against. He slid down to the ground, and reached for the communicator slowly with one hand. He almost grabbed it, but the smaller proximity between him and the noise seemed to intensify the pain, and Bud couldn't keep from yelling out once before his world turned black.

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Lori jumped out of bed from her room next to Coby's after hearing a loud yell. She ran out of her room in her nightgown and ran to Coby's room. Without knocking, she opened the door, only to run into Coby.

"Was that you Lori?" Coby asked her, wide awake as well. She shook her head.

"I thought it was you." With that, the two turned to Bud's room. Coby ran up to it with Lori following him.

"Bud?" he asked at the door. There was no answer. Coby tried the handle, and jerked back, holding his hand.

"What is it?" Lori asked, shaking slightly. Coby shook his head.

"The door shocked me. Also, the door is locked. Bud doesn't always lock it at night, but…" He trailed off, and then narrowed his eyes. "Wait, I hear something." He placed his ear against the door, and Lori stood there, quieted. They waited a few moments until Coby could make out the noise. He yelped and jumped back into Lori, causing her to jump back as well.

"What was that about?" She asked, louder this time, as Coby shook his head and held his ear.

"I don't know, but it hurt. Bad. My head…" He said, and walked backwards to the wall, and sat down against it. He bit his lip as the pain began to fade.

"I don't know what that was, but if Bud if hearing it too, then I know why he yelled." Coby's eyes then widened. "Bud! He's in there! If he's hearing that now, then he'll be in a lot of pain. We need to get one of the Autobots." Coby finished, and took out his communicator. He turned it on. He was faced with the usual screen.

"How about we try Bud before the Autobots. He could have fallen or something while trying to turn off whatever was making that noise." Lori suggested, and Coby nodded. He called Bud, and Bud's choice of ring tone that he used for it sounded on the other side of the room. It was distorted and broken. It continued to ring, and after 12 rings with no one picking up, Coby disconnected and called Jolt.

"Jolt?" A cheerful voice answered next.

"Why good morning Coby. You sound upset. What is it?" Coby looked at Lori.

"We need an Autobot or two by our rooms immediately. Something's wrong." He said, and disconnected the line. Lori raised an eyebrow, and Coby explained.

"That way he can't argue, and will hurry. I don't know what happened, but it was something. And it most likely wasn't an Autobot. Only Bud can enter his room." Lori shook her head.

"You're jumping to conclusions, Coby. It could have been an accident. Maybe it isn't, maybe it was. I am worried too, though, and anyways, Bud has to get out of there somehow." She looked warily at the door handle.

"And what conclusion are you jumping to?" A voice next to them asked. The two jumped.

"How did I not hear you come up?" Lori asked dryly, and looked up into the face of Red Alert.

"Jolt called me up for something. Jet Fire is also on his way here. Now, what seems to be the problem?" Coby rubbed his ear, while Lori pointed at the door.

"Bud's locked in his room." Lori said, straight to the point, and a voice behind her laughed lightly.

"Is that all?" Jet Fire said, walking up to the trio. Coby shook his head.

"I don't know. I called his communicator and he didn't even answer after around 10 rings. Also, he yelled earlier for some reason." He answered. Jet Fire frowned.

"Well, let's hope that he didn't bore himself to death." He said, and reached to touch the door.

"Wait!" Coby said, startling him. Jet Fire stood up straight.

"Now what?" Coby ran to his room, and grabbed his shoe. He walked back, and looked at Jet Fire.

"It's electrocuted or something." He said, and threw the shoe. It was shocked with visible electricity and fell to the ground. "Something inside of his room must've been broken. Maybe his lock." Jet Fire nodded, and took out his gun. He noted Coby's glare, and looked between him and the door.

"Don't worry. It's silent and I'm not going to let the door fall onto Bud. Anything else I should know?" Coby looked down for a moment, thinking, and then nodded.

"Possibly. I heard a static noise on the other side, but when I leaned in to hear it, it…hurt my ears really bad." Coby rubbed his ears, and Jet Fire nodded.

"Why don't you two wait in Lori's room?" The two knew better than to argue, and left. Only when they were in the safety of a room did the two Autobots nod.

Jet Fire pushed the gun near the door lock, and fired one shot, blowing out the section with the lock. It didn't destroy it, but it simply thrust that part of the door into the opposite wall. Jet Fire pushed the door open and accidentally stepped on the communicator, breaking it, and Red Alert called for Coby and Lori to come out.

Coby ran up to Jet Fire and looked into the room. Since he and Lori were the only one used to the dark, unlike the two Autobots who didn't have their night-vision thingamajig on, he saw Bud first.

"Bud!" He said, and ran to his brother, who was slumped against the wall, unconscious. Coby shook his shoulder, but he didn't respond except with a small, barely audible, groan of pain. Coby sighed, somewhat relieved that Bud was only unconscious, and looked around the room. He stood up and turned on the light.

The Autobots, (A/N: Yes, they can fit in there.) and Lori entered the room, and Lori set her sights on the communicator.

"Coby." She said, and picked it up, giving it to said person. He looked at it, and narrowed his eyes.

"It's been broken now, probably due to the door, but it's also been tampered with. The wires…" He stopped. "…This is odd. I don't know what happened, but Bud didn't do this. Even I couldn't have." He shook his head, and ripped a few silver wires out. He then turned to look around again. His eyes fell on the password screen, and he walked towards it, reading it, and then stepped back, his eyes widening.

**Haha haha.  
That was easier than I thought.  
That will teach him...  
**

Lori read it as well, and she called on Jet Fire and Red Alert to read it as she sat on the bed. Coby picked Bud up and Lori stood up again to help place him on the bed.

The Autobots looked up. "Decepticons?" Red Alert asked, and Jet Fire looked over at Bud.

"I don't know. They couldn't have gotten into the ship…Hey Coby; can you get that part of door that I blasted off?" Coby nodded and brought it over to the bed. Oddly, it was no longer shocking anything.

Everyone looked at it and noted how one side was fine, and the other mangled. Lori spoke up.

"The blast destroyed one side…then what was wrong?" She asked, and Coby shook his head.

"No…that wasn't it." Everyone looked to him, and he was glaring at the door lock. "It was mangled from the inside. Meaning that, whoever or whatever set this thing up did it from the inside." Everyone looked at Bud again. Coby shook his head once more. "It couldn't have been Bud. He wasn't in his room by time I went to bed." Everyone looked at him blankly. Coby continued.

"Whenever he isn't in bed by time I go to bed, since it is always after his bedtime that means that he fell asleep somewhere else. It's normally the study in my house, but he has a habit of that. Which means that he fell asleep somewhere else on the ship, and probably got here anytime from after midnight to the time he's supposed to wake up. I fell asleep at one, and never heard him open his door. Don't forget, my room isn't soundproof. And if Bud did come a few hours ago, then he probably wouldn't have even noticed the door handle." He finished, now looking at the door. "So; what do we do?"

Red Alert shook his head. "I have a room in a lower level of the ship where I can use it for the purposes of a hospital for Autobots or humans. I can place him there. It'll help me find out what's wrong. Also, that reminds me of something I had finished making before coming up here. I have a small invention…I'll tell you guys later. For now, I'll take Bud to the 'infirmary'." Red Alert suggested, and Coby let him pick up Bud and begin to leave.

As he started down the hall, Jet Fire turned to Coby and Lori. "You guys need to get your rest. If you can't sleep, then maybe you guys can help Red Alert in Lori's case, or try to find out what happened in Coby's case." He started down the hall towards the main room, and Coby followed him, while Lori waved to him goodbye and followed Red Alert.

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Hot Shot entered the Main Control room to see most of the others there. However, he was surprised to see Jet Fire there, since he usually woke up before him.

"Jet Fire? What are you doing up?" He asked, and Jet Fire turned with a grim face. Optimus and Vector Prime walked over as well.

"Yes; I am curious as well. You told me that you'd announce it when everyone got here except for Red Alert, and now you can." Optimus said, and Jet Fire nodded.

"Someone attacked last night." There were several confused glances and murmurs from the now-listening crowd.

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked. Jet Fire sighed.

"What I mean is that something – Coby is trying to find out what – happened last night, and we were attacked." He said simply, and a few Autobots noted that Jet Fire was trying not to say who. Vector decided against letting Jet Fire have his way.

"Who?" Jet Fire looked down.

"Pardon me?"

"I said: Who?" Jet Fire looked up.

"Red Alert took Bud to the infirmary. I doubt he's woken up yet." Jet Fire said, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to get smaller and smaller. Jet Fire stood up.

"I'd better check up on them. And Coby. He's probably made a diagnostic on the communicator. Someone rewired it." With that, he left, and the Minicons, who were also in the room, decided to follow him.

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Bud was placed on a bed with white sheets, which looked a lot like a hospital bed. Off to the side, Lori could see what seemed to be a full hospital kit.

"Red Alert, did you steal this from a hospital?" She asked about the supplies and the white lab coat/hospital nurse coat she was wearing, and got a surprising answer.

"Maybe."

The room was a small one, and as soon as you entered it, to the left you saw a large desk, which was probably used to help Red Alert know what to do. Next to it was a bed, facing from the head of the bed at the left, to the foot of the bed, which was facing the right. It was horizontally placed in the room.

Next to the bed there were various instruments and things, such as an IV, a defibrillator, a tray full of things to use, an oxygen mask and such, and more. Behind that was a wall, which extended to about a few feet in between the two ends of the room.

Behind that room was a small portal looking thing, which ended up being one of Red Alert's newly finished designs. It allowed him to take a holographic appearance of a human doctor. As a doctor, he had a white lab coat and round glasses, along with a bald head,

"Call me Ray." Red Alert had joked when she saw him. On the right side of the room was a huge glass window that acted as a mirror. It was placed from Lori's waist up until a few feet from the ceiling, and had a few feet of margin on the vertical sides of the room. It was obviously placed for the room next to this one, but only Red Alert knew what was in there.

Bud was placed on the bed, and 'Ray' got to work on trying to find out what had happened to Bud. He would ask for Lori to get him something every few minutes, but other than that, she was only able to watch Red Alert run diagnostics.

Red Alert soon grabbed a machine that might have been the IV, which was supposed to watch the heartbeat and/or brainwaves and hooked it up to Bud. He monitored Bud's vitals before looking to Lori with a smirk.

"I think I have it. He was attacked with a sound wave that was on a certain velocity." He frowned.

"The password screen was right. He should have been dead by the attack…Maybe the communicator was low on batteries when the attack hit…Well, that would explain his survival." He concluded. Lori stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"So he isn't critical, isn't comatose, but the only reason that he's alive is because of dying batteries?" She asked, and Red Alert nodded. He then looked around, as if forgetting something, and then snapped his fingers.

"Of course! My newest and untested invention!" At this, Lori's eye twitched. Before she could say anything, Red Alert had found a watch-looking thing somewhere and placed it on Bud's wrist.

"Just what are you doing?" Came Lori's annoyed voice, and Red Alert smiled to her.

"Don't worry. I found a way to make a holographic Minicon that is actually real!" Lori simply stared at him. "It's programmed into this watch, yes, but it is made to 'combine' with its host." At Lori's scared look, he sighed.

"Okay, okay. It is made to act as a 'nurse' to the person who I choose it to guard. The color, personality and appearance of the Minicon will depend, on this occasion, on Bud. It will mainly record and be able to tell us his vitals at any time; it can tell what he is thinking; it can also materialize as a human form or as its usual Minicon form. This Minicon is a girl. So, pretty much, it becomes a part of his sub-consciousness. The best part, though, is that it can appear in real life, yes, but it can also feel real. You would be able to touch it, yes, and if it takes a hit for Bud, which it can, it would de-pixelate. However, it won't die unless Bud does." He finished off proudly.

"Shouldn't we have his opinion? Can we take it off? Can we separate them, and what will happen when they combine?" Lori asked, and Red Alert sighed.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know. However, it would help us all, since it, or she, would tell us what exactly is wrong with him." Lori crossed her arms.

"Before you activate it, let's ask Coby first." Red Alert nodded and took the watch off. "Wait, what's the watch for?"

"That is where the Minicon is right now. I can transfer her, but not now." He said and placed the watch in his pocket. "Why don't you call Coby now?" Lori nodded, and took out her transmitter.

She turned it on and then looked at Bud again. However, she was surprised to see him slightly stirring. She froze, and turned to the screen, where Coby was looking at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Coby, get over here. He's waking up."

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Dang that was long! It took me a while to type that…

Owwie my shoulder…[

(Rubs shoulder and pouts cutely) Thanks for reviewing, though. You three of four or five are my favorite people!

IF you want, tell friends about the story if they'll like it! I'm active again…for now. But hey; three chapters and 4000 words in 14 hours isn't bad!


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